China Disputes Defense Assessment – Joseph Kahn

From The New York Times:

A Pentagon report that voiced concerns about China’s buildup of land- and sea-based ballistic missiles “misleads international opinion” and tries to spread false fears of a China threat, Chinese state news media said Sunday.

A sharply worded commentary in The People’s Daily, the main newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, said the Defense Department’s annual report to Congress on China’s military capacity had exaggerated the extent and sophistication of China’s military modernization.

“The report pays no attention to the actual state of affairs, and in a premeditated fashion exaggerates the so-called Chinese military threat,” it said. [Full Text]